Coin-controlled vending-machine.



F. W. TUCKER. COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILBDMAY 31, 1912.

1,054, 1 53a 7 Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES IM'EM R "4 M W. Zi /d F. W. TUCKE COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1912 Patented Feb. 25, 1918.

3 SHEBTS-SHEET 2.

F. W. TUCKER. 00m coma L ED VENDING MAGHINE. APPLIGA N FILED MAY31,1912.

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INVENTOR 2% M6 M Br lH' w momm 1 F inn" FRANK W. TUCKER,

GTE NEV] YORK, N. i

COIN-CONTROLLED VENDING-MACHINE.

Application filed may 31, 1912.

To all v.1: 72. cm '2' may concern Be it known that L'FRANK N. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specitication. y

The present invention relates to a coin controlled vending machine or apparatus which delivers automatically small wares,

such as chewing gum, chocolate and other confections upon passing a proper coin into the machine by apurchaser.

()ne of the objects of the invention is to provide a compact, eilicient, reliable and comparatively inexpensive machine of this character. Another object of the invention is to provide a vending machine with a simple and efiicient device for pre enting fraud against the apparatus, such fraud preventing device rejecting checks or coins of improper size and material.

\Vith these and other .objects in view,

which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2- is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3' is a section taken on line 3'-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4. is a section taken on line 4& of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the device with the cover removed;

Fig. (5 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig.-

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the cover of the apparatus with the operating parts thereon; Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a dctail of'construction; and Fig. 9 is a plan view of another detail.

In the drawings, the numeral 1.0 indicates a suitable casing, preferably made of metal,

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed tree. as, was.

Serial No. 700,611.

I and attached toa support 11,such as the back of a chair, in any suitable manner. Over this casing fits a cover 12, held upon the casing in a manner hereinafter to be 'described. In one side of the cover are provided a plurality of apertures 13, 13, reg istering with apertures 14, 14: in the corresponding side of the casing 10, the apertures 13 being covered by, a glass plate 15, whereby the quantity of the goods contained in the casing can be ascertained without opening the same. The goods-box or holder 16 is a frame-like structure, which is held to the inside of the casing 10 bv means of rivets 1t, 14 or otherwise, said goods-box comprising two vertical sides 18 and 1S, and a bottom 19, the width of the latter being smaller than the distance between the sides 18 and 18. To the side 18' is pivoted at 20 a slat 21, the length of which corresponds substantially to that of the side 18'. This slat is arranged in a plane at rightangles to its corresponding side of the goods-holder. A spring 22 is attached to the side 18' and extends below the lower around its pivot into a substantially hori zontal plane, the goods-box may be tilled with chewing gum, chocolate or other con; fections 23. Upon the top of the goods is placed a weight 24, after which the slat 21 is returned to its normal vertical position,

of the goods and holding them thus in their compartment. The weight 2415 provided goods are delivered from the apparatus, in the space formed between the side 18 of the goods-box and that sideof the casing 10 which is provided with the apertures 14 above referred to.

Below the bottom 19 of the goods box is located a coin receptacle 26, provided with tacle is arranged aiock 2S, its key-hole being accessible through an opening 29 in the bottom 30 of'the casing 10, and through a registering opening in the cover 12. The bolt 31 of this lockis adapted to be projected through an opening in the side of the coin receptacle into an opening 32 in a substantially vertical partition 33 of the cover 12. I This partition extends upwardly a distance which corresponds to theheight of the coin receptacle. The top 3 1 of the cover carries a plurality ofpins 35 adapted to be edge thereof. 1V hen the slat. 2 1 is turned a removable front 27. In this coin recep overlapping thereby a substantial portion with a projection 25, which travels, as the seated in recesses 36 in the support 1]. When. the pins are seated in their recesses and "when the belt of the lock :28 is shot into the opening in the partition 33 of the cover, the apparatus will be safely kept closed.

The. coin paid for a piece of goods is placed into a slot 37 in a mouth piece 38, which is either formed integral with or attached to the cover 12. and passes thence into a chute 39 stamped into the cover. and thence into a vertical passage 40, which is formed between the front portion 4-1 of the cover 12 and a suitably bent strip 4:2, hinged at 4:3, 43 to a supporting plate 4- the latter being attached by means of screws 45, 4a), or otherwise, to the innerside of the front 4-1 of the cover of the apparatus. The edge 42 of the strip 42 is kept against the front n of the cover 12 by means of a spring 42". The passage 40 is provided near its bottom with an inclined rebound plate 46, onto which the coin drops in its downward movement. In striking the rebound plate 46, the coin is deviated from its course, springing back at the same angle at which it strikes the rebound plate 46 toward a swinging arm 47, which is pivoted at 47 to the innerside of the supporting plate 44-, and, if the coin is of the proper weight and of other physical properties which will be hereinafter mentioned, it will cause the arm 47 to swing toward that side of the casing which is provided with the apertures 14, and permit thereby the coin to fall onto a delivery mechanism 48. This delivery mechanism consists of a coin lever 49, pivoted at 50 to a disk segment 51, which in turn is pivoted at 52 to the cover 12. said disk segment being arranged in a circular depression 53 in said cover. A knob 54 is attached to the disk scgn'icnt, and'projects through an arc-shaped slot. in the cover 12 of the casing. The outer end of the coin lever 49 carries a pin 56. which will abut against a horizontal extension 57 of the side 18 of the goodsrbox, when the coin lever is tripped bv the weight. of the coin resting thereon. ln this position the pin 56 is arranged in the plane of the lowermost of the stack of goods in the. goods-box. and

when the disk segment 51 is shifted by ac tuating the knob :11, it will cause one piece of the goods to fall onto a gnard plate 58. which is fulcrumed at 59 to one of the sides of the casing 10 and the side of the coin box Qt). Tn dropping onto this guard plate, the piece of goods will tilt the plate in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. '-l of the drawings, and fall thus into a tray 60 at the bottom of the casing 10, to be taken out of the apparatus through an opening (ii in the cover above the plane of the tray 60. I

The guard plate 59, being arranged a 'sub slautial distance above the opening (ll, ad-

mils the buyers fingers into the tray to draw out conveniently the tltllVt-Ittl piece of goods. ll prevents. however. persons passing either theirhands or implements up- 'ard into th 1 apparatus for the purpose of tampering with the interior mcchanirnn of the same.

A further fraud preventing dcvicc con sists of a magnet which is attached to the sup ort-ing plate ll, its poles being arranged in close proximity to the passage lo, and serving to prevent, such checks from acting upon the coin lever 49 which are sus: ccptible to magnetic attraction. The mode of operation of this magnet will be fully de scribed hereinafter when the fraud prevent ing properties of the swinging arm ll will be fully discussed.

As soon all of the goods have been withdrawn from the apparatus. the projection 25 of the weight- 2-1 will act upon the end 63 of a, lever 64, which is fulcrumcd at 65 to the supporting plate 44. The other end. of this lever rests normally upon a pin 66, and supports thereby a bellcrai'ik lever 67, which is pivoted at 68 to the supporting plate. The arm 69 of this lever is arranged at a distance from the swinging arm 47 to allow the latter to swing towardthat side of the casing 10 which is provided with the apertures 14-. a distance which will permit the coin, rebound by the plate 40, to drop onto the coin lever 49. The normal positions of the levers 6t and 67 are shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1, 7 and R. When all of the goods aredelivcrcd from the apparatus. the projection of the weight- 24 forces the arm (33 of the lever (l t downward into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 8. By this operation. the hellcrauk lever 67 is tilted into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 8, whereby its arm 6.) brought nearer the swinging arm 47. As. therefore, a coin is rebound against the swinging arm 47, this arm is not. adapted to swing far enough to permit the coin to drop onto the coin lever 49. it will fall into the tray 60, wherefrom it can be remowed by the ii'ltending purchaser. It will be seen thus that all coins will be returnel to the intending purchaser if the machine is empty.

When the coin lever 49 in its normal position (shown in dotted lines in Fig. l

and in full lines in Fig. 7 of the drawings) the pin fill thereof arranged in the level of a downwardly extending projection 70 upon the bottom 1!) of the goods-box. hen. therefore, the knob 54 of the disk segmeutSl is actuated without inserting a coin, the pin 56 will abut against the pro-- jection 70, preventing thereby the disk segment 51 from completing its movement. Before, however, the pin 56 abuts against the projection 70,the end 49 of the coin lever 49 will contact with a block 71, which is Iuicrumed at 2 toltlie lower end of the strip 4:2. When the end 49 of ,t-hecoin lever contacts withtlie block 71 and the disk segment 51 is being ,iturther shifted, the stripe) will be turned around its hinges; spurious coins or other checks, such as for instance buttons, etc., which owing to their did not fall through the passage 40, will thus be released and drop into the tray 60. 'llmspring 42. returns then the strip 42 to its normal position. it will be observed that by means of this arrangement it isrinade impossible to clog thepassage leading to the coin lever, as persons who passed coins of improper size through the slot into. the passage 40 will clear the passage as they shift the disk segment 51 by means of the knob 54.

The operation of this device is as follows: A coin, in this case one cent, is dropped through the slot into the passage 40, falling onto the rebound plate 46. The cent, made of copper, possesses a. certain resiliency which is a property of its material. Owing to this resiliency, the rebound plate to will cause the com to spring back under an angle which is equal to the angle of incidence on the rebound plate. The cent will thus be thrown, as it were, against. the swinging arm $7. The distance between the swinging arm l7 and the rebound plate 46, the angle of inclination of the rebound plate, and the weight'oi the swinging arm 4? have been: found, of course, by experiments. The

weightof the arm at? is such as to permit the cent to swing said arm 47 toward the bellcrank lever (37, whereby said cent will drop on the coin lever 49, and tilt the same into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 of the'drawings. In actuating now by means of the knob 54 the coin. lever, the pin 56 will cause the lowermost of the stack of goods to be dropped into the tray 60, to be removed therefrom in the manner above.

mentioned.

lVhen the piece of goods has been delivcred, the coin lever will be tilted back into its normal position, whereby the coin which has been paid by the purchaser for a piece of goods will drop into the coin receptacle.

it a light-weight coin is placed into the slot oi the machine, it will fall onto the rcboit-nd plate 46, but will be unable. owing to its light weight, to swing the arm t? far enough to fall onto the coin lever if). It will simply drop into the tray 0 to be re lDUYG/d by the intending purchaser. Even if accident it should fall onto the coin. lever 49, it will be unable to tilt the latter to its operating position. It will be caused to fall into the coin receptacle when the nextproper coin is passed into the machine. It has been found, however, that it occurs very seldom that a light-weight coin falls on the coin lever.

if a check which is susceptible to magnetic attraction is placed into the slot of the machine, the magnet 62 will act upon it, deviate it from its regular course in such a manner that its rebound upon the plate 46 will not be sufficient to swing the arm 47 the proper distance, so that it will simply be delivered into the tray 60, even if it were of the proper size, weight and resiliency.

Coins which are of the proper size and weight, but do not possess the resiliency ot the material of a cent will never reach the coin lever, owing to the fact that their rebound is not sutlicient to throw the arm 47. They will also fall into the tray 60.

From the-toregoing-it will be observed that, in order to operate the machine, a check must be provided, the size, weight and resiliency of which are in all respects identical with that of a cent. Any coins or checkswhich lack any one of these three properties cannot actuate the delivery mechanism of the apparatus.

What I, claim is:

1. In a coin operated vending machine, the combination with a casing having a slotfor the insertion of a coin and'a downwardly extending passage leading therefrom, of a rebound plate in said passage, a tilting coin lever onto which the coin is adapted to be directed by said rebound plate, and a swinging arm against which" the coin strikes as for the-insertion of a coin and'a downwardly extending'passage leading therefrom, of a rebound plate in said-passage, a tilting coin lever onto which the coin is adapted to be directed by said rebound plate, a swinging arm against which the coin strikes as it passes from said rebound plate onto said coin lever, and means for preventing the full swing of said arm when all of the goods have been delivered from the machine.

3. in a 'coin operated vending machine, the combination with a casing having a slot for the-insertion 0t a-coin and a downwardly extending passage leading therefrom, of a rebound plate in said passage, a tilting coin lever onto which the coin is adapted to be directed by said rebound plate, a swinging arm against which the coin strikes as ,it passes from said rebound plate onto said coin lever, a lever fulcrumed to said casing, and means for tilting said lever so as to prevent the full swing of said arm when all of the, goods have been delivered from the machine.

at. In a coin operated vending machine,

the combination with a casing ,havinga slot it passes from said rebound plate onto said onto which the coin is adapted to he di rented by said rebound plat a swinging'; arm against \rhieh the coin strikes as it passes from said rebound platc onto said t-oin lerer. and means for preventing the full swii of said arm when all of the goods have been delivered from the our ehino.

I in a roiu opt-rated vending; machine, the combination with a casing having; a slot for the insertion of a coin and a downwardl}; extending passage leading therefrom, of a rebound plate in said passz'igc, a

dial: segment pivoted to said casing, a tilting coin lover carried by said disk segment onto \i'illtll the coin is adapted to he directed by said rebound plate, a swinging arm against which the coin. strikes as passes from said rebound plate onto said. coin ierer, a lever fulcrumed to said casing, and means for tilting, said lever so as to prevent the full swing oi said arm when all of the goods have been delivered from the machine.

7. In a. coin operated vending machine, the combination with a casing having a. slot, of astrip hinged to said casing forming'apassage communicating with said slot, a rebound plate upon said strip in said pa"- sag'c, a disk segment pivoted to said casing,-

a coin lever carried by said disk segment, and a swinging arm against which the coin strikes it passes from said rebound plate onto said coin lever, said coin lever when no coin has 9 d onto it h 'ngg adapted to sit ing said strip around hinge upon. n'iovonient of said disk segment.

5%. in a coin operated vending machine, the combination with a casing having a slot, of a strip hinged to said casing forming a,

said rebound plate onto said coin,

emmas passage communicating with said slot, :1 bonnd plate upon said strip in said a disk segi'nent pivoted to said casing, a win lever varried by said dish segment, a swinging arm against which the coin strikes as it; passes from said rebound plate onto said roin lever, said coin lovcr'n'hen no coin has passed onto it being adapted to swing said strip around its hinge upon movement 1 V Y a of said disk segment, and means ior pr"- renting the full swing of said. arm when all of the goods have been delivered from the nnu-hine.

9. in a coin operated vending machine, the combination with a casing having a slot, of a strip hinged to said casing forming a passage communicating: with said slot, :1. rehound plate upon said strip in id passage, a dis]; segment pivoted to o easing, a coin lercr :arried by said disk segment, a

swinging; arm against which the coin strikes as it passes from said rebound plate onto said coin lever. said coin lever when no coin has passed onto it being adapted to swing aaid strip around its hinge upon movement of said dish segn'ient, a lever fnicrnined to said casing, and means for tilting said lever so as to prevent the full swing of said arm lYllLfi all of the goods have been delivered from the machine.

10. In a, coin operated vending machine, the combination With a casing having a slot for the insertion of a coin and a downwardly extel'iding passage leading therefrom, of a rebound plate in said passage, a tilting coin lever onto which the coin is adapted to he directed by said rebound plate, a swinging arm against which the coin strikes as it passes from said rebound plate onto said coin lever, a goods-box, a weight resting upon the top of the goods in said goodsbox having a projection, a lever system adapted to be actuated by said projection for preventing the full swing of said arm when all of the goods have been delivered from the machine.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 13th day of i l eeemher, It. 19131.:

FRANK Vi TUCKER.

ilitnesses FiIGML'ND Hnnzoo, 5 iinmnnmir. 

